The Wildflowers

Not So Prim-Roses: Swedish Rock Band The Wildflowers Muses on Music, Fashion, the Future and Starring Alongside Music Industry Luminary Lady Gaga

Injecting their androgynous retro-glam music, style and attitude into the world of rock, Swedish band, the Wildflowers reign as one of the few contemporary bands that can legitimately refer to themselves as rock and roll. A shamelessly brazen attitude, propensity for nail polish, sunglasses, skinnies and fast-paced songs evocative of ‘60s and ‘70s punk, blues and rock has the Wildflowers poised to blow your sound system. Their wild antics and nonchalant dispositions make one thing glaringly obvious; they don’t care what you think of them, just as long as you do.

Comprised of three tattooed blonde triplets, Izzy, Kelii and Rock Landeberg, and newcomer, guitarist Erik Henriksson from Sweden, the Wildflowers are one of the hottest untapped European imports around. The influence of iconic bands such as The Doors, The Clash, The Ramones and Jimi Hendrix is as apparent in their music as it is in their style.

Appreciative of both their talent and unconventional appearance, Lady Gaga handpicked the gorgeous triplets to star in her darkly comedic music video for “Paparazzi”; a roll that saw the three of them living out the fantasy of every Gaga-eyed male in existence as they made-out with the music industry darling en masse.

Unlike previous decades, this generation is lacking in any truly great, sustainable rock and roll bands; with their high-energy stage presence, insurmountable drive to succeed, and attitudes that epitomize rock, I have my fingers crossed that The Wildflowers may be just the group to change that. The band was nice enough to take a few minutes out of their schedule to answer a few questions about their music, their fashion, and their future:

You were Snake of Eden, and now you’re The Wildflowers. Why the name change?
Izzy: After four years in Los Angeles and being a band for two years we felt that the band had changed musical direction from when it started, and the band name Snake of Eden felt too much like a hair-metal band. The Wildflowers feels like it fits our music perfectly and symbolizes the blooming of the band.

Is there anyone, other artists, bands, etc., who has had an influence on your band with regards to both music and style?
Izzy: We’re into 70’s punk and 60’s-70’s rock & roll and blues. Style-wise we think that Steven Tyler, David Bowie and (T. Rex’s) Mark Bolan had some of the coolest sense of fashion.
Kelii: Fashion, art and music goes hand in hand with each other. The way we dress is a visual way to show people what we’re all about and what kind of music we play.

What are some of your wardrobe essentials?
Kelii: Skinny pants, vests and shirts, fancy shoes, accessories such as jewelry, sunglasses and some hats. A wardrobe should be like a treasure chamber filled with tasty stuff!

Where do you find most of your clothing/accessories?
Rock: Sometimes vintage shops, often girls clothes. For some reason it’s cheaper and fits better. Kind of hard to find underwear at the girls section, so we don’t wear any.

Are there any designers in particular that you like and or follow?
Izzy: We like what Vivienne Westwood did for the Sex Pistols in the 70’s. But we often try to avoid designers’ clothes with their name on (it). It’s not our style to wear branded clothes. But we like designed clothes!
Erik: If it looks cool it’s cool! No matter who designed the clothes.
You were in Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” music video; awesome experience or not so much?
Izzy: Lady Gaga is a cool girl with great fashion and a lot of true talent. It was a fun experience to be a part of such a big production, and a plus: her lips were sweeter than a honey-pie! (Laughs)

You’re in Tokyo working on a new album, what was the appeal of Japan?
Izzy: Tokyo is a big city with so many possibilities and so many styles and it gives us a lot of inspiration for our music and fashion. It’s hard to not get sucked in to the Japanese fashion and lifestyle. We decided to go to Tokyo to try our music here, and people here seem to appreciate the music scene a lot!
Strangest thing about living in Tokyo is?
Rock: It is possible to rent a model as company for the night, the Harajuku girls dress up as dolls. Dominos pizza costs about 30 dollars a pizza, you can buy used underwear in vending machines and the boiled eggs are amazing!

What can we expect from your new album/songs?
Izzy: New sound compared to the old songs. Genuine rock & roll sound with punk attitude. Every song’s got its own personality and we’re really proud to show them to everyone.
You’re brothers who work together; any wicked fights or do you all get along fairly well?
Izzy: We fight about small things, but nothing serious.
Kelii: We’ve been together almost every day of our life and we’re still not tired of each other. Guess that’s called love.

Any plans to play in Canada?
Rock: No, not any plans right now. But you never know what The Wildflowers do next!
We would love to play there again!

What does the band hope to accomplish in 2010?
Kelii: What about taking over the world? No really, we want to get a great deal with a record label and get lots of promotion and get out on the roads and just play live as much as possible!
Izzy: And a soul trip to India.

If you weren’t musicians, you would be?
Izzy: Astronaut.
Kelii: If I weren’t a musician I would be like Bret Michaels in Poison! (Laughs)
Rock: Pimp.

Completely random question: 1 thing that you love and 1 thing that you hate:
Izzy: I love diamonds, and I hate beautiful girls with false teeth.
Kelii: I love to be on stage, I hate fake people.
Rock: I love candy and I hate awkward silence.
Erik: I love life, I try not to hate.

Anything else you would like to add?
Rock: We have recorded new songs already that will be available in the beginning of February!
Erik: Check out our myspace for latest news about the band: www.myspace.com/snakeofedenrocks. And check us out at YouTube for “the Wildflowers rock & roll show”.
Izzy: Love to all of our fans, and all the creative people.

*Disclaimer* The Wildflowers YouTube rock & roll show is described as “a delight of decadence, filth and pure rock n roll”. You’ve been warned.